The Reality and Ambition of the Training Process in the Banking Sector in Palestine

The aim of this study was twofold: investigating the reality and ambition of the training process in the Palestinian Banking Sector–with its various dimensions, and accordingly making appropriate recommendations for the development of the training process to help those who received training at the Palestine Institute for Banking and Finance Studies. Hopefully, the recommendations will help foster the design, implementation and evaluation of programs and training in the future. A sample of 6% was taken from the 4684 employees of the banking sector, and 75% of the heads of the HR departments. A questionnaire was designed and then results were analyzed using the statistical software package (SPSS). The study findings suggested that the training process in the banking sector from the employees' perspective was effective. They arranged the elements of training in terms of importance as follows: design of training programs; the selection of trainers; and the implementation of training programs. Human resources personnel in the departments receiving training believe that the process is ambitious. As such, they arranged elements leading to fulfillment in terms of importance as follows: design of training programs; the selection of trainers; identifying training needs; assessing the training process; the implementation of training programs; and the selection of trainees. In light of the previous findings, the paper made some recommendations. I would be necessary to adopt scientific criteria when determining training needs. Equally important is developing an annual plan for various types of training programs. The training curriculum should be built in a way that helps classifying the target staff members according to their real needs and the skills they have to acquire, so that the gap between expected performance and actual performance is narrowed. The content of the training material should take into account the academic level of the trainees. Meanwhile, the selection criteria should be clear and made known to everyone. Trainers should also be selected carefully– those who have a solid background, passion about work, innovation and creativity. Finally, stakeholders should make sure that adequate funds are appropriated for training programs, so that banks can choose highly experienced trainers from within or outside the Palestinian banking sector.